squirrels

[Kasomor]

Will a pellet gun kill a squirrel or just piss it off? Does it need to be a head shot or will an upper body shot kill it if so???

Got squirrels in the attic. I'm not impressed.

Can't use the .22, I'm in a suburb. :mad:

To make this dog related I'll get my dog to fetch it once dead. :wink:

[bigwhiteys]

A pellet gun will wipe him out quickly and quitely! I used to use a crossman .177 caliber pump.

Carl

[Cdn-Redneck]

You could try a live animal trap to catch it, then take it for a long drive. It may be awkward and dark to shoot a squirrel in the attic.

[Frango]

My wife has killed 3 of the black buggers with our pellet gun .She does not hunt so the first time she hit and killed one she was a bit taken aback about the killing. Then she realized hey end of problem. Since then the gun sits pumped on the kitchen table. I have taken to calling her dead eye Jane.

[Bow Walker]

No need to mention your dog. Just post your thread in the right section the first time.

Good luck with the squirrels. If you run into difficulty PM Mr. Dean - he's the squirrels' most deadly enemy.

[Kasomor]

How close does the squirrel need to be and would it need to be a head shot?

I can just see the squirrel knocking on the neighbours door "Help me, I'm wounded...gasp" :mrgreen:

[Cdn-Redneck]

I am picturing the gopher from Caddyshack.

[fuzzy]

i borrowed a friends pellet gun to take care of a problem. He told me it was suprisingly powerful. He gave me some pointed ammo, I asked him if it would kill small stuff, he shrugged and said it goes throught .25 plywood. I'm thinking hey this is great. So this little ******* destructive squirrel after chewing on the screen door runs up to his usual perch in a tree close by. I shoot squirrel out of the tree, hmm still moving, i shoot it 2 more times....... still not quite dead yet( shot placement was bang on). Mother in-law and wife are not looking impressed(never seen anything die before). Ummm hey hun do you know where the dog shit shovel is? First whack with the flat of the shovel still didnt do it, then i used the pointy end.....

turns out the shots were through and through and that little squirrel was a tough little *******..... rememeber use enough gun:mrgreen: or shovel:mrgreen:


fuzzy

[Kasomor]

Yup, watched the movie tonight to get some tips.

Dynamite is NOT an option. :mrgreen:

I've kind of got this rule too, that if you ain't going to eat it.... you can't shoot it.

Squirrel stew in not appealing but squirrel fur is good for tying flies. Does that count??? :wink:

[pnbrock]

tied some awesome black leaches out of those black rats

[Shooter]

Its just a rodent.. Throw a rat trap up there then you won't feel bad about not eating it.

[Peter Pepper]

50ft or so for a cleaner kill. Think I chould do 75ft-100ft with my crossman .177 break barrel and scope. At 30ft it penetrated a 1gal paint can, and would be great to snipe them. If you are going at them in the attic you should get a Co2 powered repeating pistol. Mine has ten shot and ya, it though and thoughs on some rats. But they die...

[Peter Pepper]

ya, rat trap more practical, safer, way cleaner...but why not load up on BB guns instead!I know what i'd choose.
Or have you considered a crossbow?

[huntwriter]

I've kind of got this rule too, that if you ain't going to eat it.... you can't shoot it.

Squirrel stew in not appealing but squirrel fur is good for tying flies. Does that count??? :wink:

Squirrel meat is delicious in stew or grilled, especially from squirrels living near houses with access to various nut trees and bushes, sunflowers and other bird seeds. A pellet gun is plenty good for squirrels out to 10, 15 yards.

[LukaTisus]

i borrowed a friends pellet gun to take care of a problem. He told me it was suprisingly powerful. He gave me some pointed ammo, I asked him if it would kill small stuff, he shrugged and said it goes throught .25 plywood. I'm thinking hey this is great. So this little ******* destructive squirrel after chewing on the screen door runs up to his usual perch in a tree close by. I shoot squirrel out of the tree, hmm still moving, i shoot it 2 more times....... still not quite dead yet( shot placement was bang on). Mother in-law and wife are not looking impressed(never seen anything die before). Ummm hey hun do you know where the dog shit shovel is? First whack with the flat of the shovel still didnt do it, then i used the pointy end.....

turns out the shots were through and through and that little squirrel was a tough little *******..... rememeber use enough gun:mrgreen: or shovel:mrgreen:


fuzzy

It's absolutely insane how tough squirrels are. I always joke and say if they were the size of bears, we'd all be screwed.

Been a couple times I've shot one right through the vitals and it's still managed to make it to the top of it's tree before dying. They're tough little animals for their size, that's for sure.

.410 shotgun, on the other hand. They don't go far.

[NitwiT]

.410 may be getting a little noisy, especially in a suburban area, pellet gun on the other hand, assuming its a non-firearm, be ok thinks I

[Kasomor]

ya, rat trap more practical, safer, way cleaner...but why not load up on BB guns instead!I know what i'd choose.
Or have you considered a crossbow?

After the arrow through the STEEL garage door incident..... that is only talked about in a hushed tone :roll:.... there is a moratorium on anything that shoots long pointy objects around here.

You guys who are saying go for a rat trap...are you sure a rat trap will take a squirrel out???

[Singleshotneeded]

:-D Yeah, squirrels are meant to be tasty, but how many of us north of Dixie are into cleaning little squirrels? How many per person, a dozen?

[Riverratz]

You guys who are saying go for a rat trap...are you sure a rat trap will take a squirrel out???

YUP ! Victor Rat Trap, available most hardware stores........looks like a large mouse trap, about $2-$3.00.

If the squirrel can get to the trap from 'any' direction it will just set the trap off and catapult the squirrel into the air.

You have to set the trap in such a way that the squirrel can only approach it from the trigger end. Out on the end of a short 'running pole' works good, or set inside some sort of box that prevents the squirrel from getting at it from any direction other than straight toward the trigger.

Bend the little pointed metal tab on the trigger straight up, and stick some bait on it (like what they normally eat, or a peanut in the shell works). Squirrel tries to get bait, snap, broken neck, etc.
Careful of your fingers !!!!:eek:

[deer nut]

The Yanks down south eat squirrel! Then again, they eat possum too.....

[Kelster]

Pellets will do the job. Head shot is best.

Less desirable, but poison may work as well. Use poison grain like my jerkoff neighbor did and killed one of my dogs.

Happy Hunting.

[warnniklz]

I have the gamo-recon in .177 cal. I replaced the scope it came with because that one was junk. I used the gold pellets and annihilated a bunch of those big grey *******s down here on the coast in my yard and attic. And got a couple of rats that came out from the burger shop behind my old place.

[gbrown001]

As another hunter speaking from a lot of experience, Grey squirrels can take a lot of damage, and keep moving. When hurt, they tend to head for their nests to hide. If they are living in your attic, you want to make sure a mortaly wounded squirrel doesn't make it back in side! And they taste a lot like cottontails. And as anyone who has ever picked up a big male grey squirrel knows, one is enough for a meal.

[warnniklz]

As another hunter speaking from a lot of experience, Grey squirrels can take a lot of damage, and keep moving. When hurt, they tend to head for their nests to hide. If they are living in your attic, you want to make sure a mortaly wounded squirrel doesn't make it back in side! And they taste a lot like cottontails. And as anyone who has ever picked up a big male grey squirrel knows, one is enough for a meal.

yeah man. I was using just regular pointed pellets at first and got some pretty close head shots and they didn't go down. That's why I moved on to the gold pellets to get some more velocity and hitting power.

[BlackwaterHunter]

I got a ruger 490 and its accuarate with a good scope to 40 yards have gotten to many tree rats with it to count :D just aim for the head/ upper body and you should be good, also use hollow points works much much better, though where i live i only got tiny red's so might be easier for me :D

[warnniklz]

The Ruger 490's are pretty solid too. My gramps has one he uses for crows that come into his no fly zone. But with the little red squirrels me and my buddy shot them with our crossman 760 pumps. We also used our paintball guns and they worked just fine. Being little b@$t@rD r*t@*d kids we would shoot the squirrels in the hind quarters so they'd fall out of the tree then the dogs would be on them.

[BlackwaterHunter]

Havent tried it on crows yet, and the crosman 2100 classics are another good gun for that type of stuff

[Ross280]

If you've got rats or squirrels in the attic a ferret would solve the problem very quickly.

[warnniklz]

I was renting the house at the time. So it was more fun shooting them. Now the landlor moved in and I'm in a better house and he has to deal with them.

[pnbrock]

can they be entered in the fall contest?and what would be the prize for the longest animal?

[NitwiT]

are you guys talking non-res airgun? or toy airgun (<500fps)

[warnniklz]

When I first got mine it was clocked at 495fps... not anymore

[.300wsm]

you need a .177 nosler ballistic tip only thing i trust when hunting dangerous game.

[warnniklz]

you need a .177 nosler ballistic tip only thing i trust when hunting dangerous game.

so are you saying .22 partitions wouldn't be overkill?? I just may have to go that route

[Hotwheels81]

Spit roasted over an open fire with some hickory bbq sauce makes the lil bastids quite tastey!

Skin from the middle and finish at the head by severing the neck, most meat is in the thigh region... Alot more meat on em then california quail.

I prefer my crossman backpacker in .22 with flat nose match grade pellets, a head shot will drop even a big one in its tracks.... Watch for fleas.

[Look74]

You need to find the hole they are getting first, then cover it with wire. Then go hunting.

[Mr. Dean]

Good luck with the squirrels. If you run into difficulty PM Mr. Dean - he's the squirrels' most deadly enemy.

I've got ~30 kills in, over this past couple months and have NO CLUE as to how many others, over the past few years.

They CAN be tough. The percentage of 'bang-flops' isn't all that great (maybe 15%). When hit, they normally spring 6' straight up and ALWAYS run for cover and NOT up the closest tree afforded. I've had some cover 35 yards of undergrowth before collapsing. I usually go for the vitals as I'm hitting these things @ 35 yards and usually toss 'em out hollow points w/ a .177 - I get the dog to do the retrieving and we've only came up shy (lost game) twice - They do die from center mass hits. :wink:

If you're SERIOUS about wanting the problem ones removed, BAIT THEM! Go to WallyWorld and buy a squirrel feeder. Fill it w/ bird seed and wait a day or two; it's like a magnet is to steel. Then seal up the holes that allow them access to your home. The feeder I use has a hinged lid that the rodent uses to access the feed. When one is on it, it makes a hollow 'clunk' everytime it drops, alerting me to load up and get into 'sniper mode'. :evil:

Just make certain that you're targeting the legal ones; I use a set of bino's to ID, before pulling the trigger. :smile:

[igojuone]

I hope some of you posting are being humorous, it's a fricking squirrel or long haired rat if you choose, shoot the thing and be done with it. Whether you've got a 495 or better doesn't matter fi your close enough and hit it center mass.
If you choose to eat it or not, who gives a squirrels ass?

[warnniklz]

If you're in an urban setting and have big windows. I tend to cover myself in some laundry and/or a blanket to make an urban ghillie suite. That way it doesn't look like you're hanging around your windows with weapons of mass destruction to your neighbours.

[bcbrez]

I use my paintball gun. Turn it up to 350 ft/s and it kills 'em dead, grouse too. I also have a few pink racoons running around.

[Blair]

I had pigeon problems on my house and had to shoot them after dark so as not to upset the neighbours. I taped a flashlight to the barrel of a pellet gun and it worked fine in the dark. Head shots killed them outright. Body shots knocked them to the ground where I could wring their necks.

[ea187]

a pellet gun would be plenty. i have a .22 ar2078A and it takes out squirrels with no problems up to 40yards

[lip_ripper00]

[quote=Mr. Dean;826529]If you're SERIOUS about wanting the problem ones removed, BAIT THEM! Go to WallyWorld and buy a squirrel feeder. Fill it w/ bird seed and wait a day or two; it's like a magnet is to steel. Then seal up the holes that allow them access to your home. The feeder I use has a hinged lid that the rodent uses to access the feed. When one is on it, it makes a hollow 'clunk' everytime it drops, alerting me to load up and get into 'sniper mode'. :evil:



Wow, Mr.D I have had squirrel problems the last couple of months and have taken 6 or 7 in that time. I had not thought to bait the little *******s, well I took your advice (just used a plastic bottle for peanuts) filled it up yesterday, when I got home this afternoon it was empty. I refilled and within minutes the little suckers where back, I removed 4 more out of my area in less than an hour! Their are still lots left, my new after work passtime. Thanks for the great advice!!

[250 sav]

Rat trap and peanut butter (done)